Image Courtesy of the Detroit Lions
Jared Goff threw a perfect game with no incompletions, setting an NFL record for most passes without an incompletion to finish a game. Amon-Ra St. Brown threw a touchdown pass and caught one, too. David Montgomery had perhaps the most impressive run-after-catch in the NFL this season. And despite the defense giving up more than 500 yards, Kerby Joseph had a game-sealing interception in the end zone.
All of those factors played a role in the Lions avenging a 2023 loss against the Seattle Seahawks, this time beating them at Ford Field 42-29 on Monday Night Football, with eyes watching from around the world.
While it didn’t rain in Detroit Monday night, there was definitely thunder and lightning inside of Ford Field, as the Detroit Lions dynamic duo of running backs – David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs – set the tone early and continued to punish the Seahawks throughout the game with their combination of speed and power.
The two combined for 88 yards and three touchdowns (Gibbs with two and Montgomery with one) on the ground in the first half alone, and Montgomery added a dominant 40-yard catch-and-run – punished would-be tacklers and shedding ‘Hawk defenders left and right – early in the third quarter, picking up where the duo left off in the second quarter.
“It was one of those nights for us where it was just fun,” said Jameson Williams, who found the endzone on a one-play, 70-yard drive where Goff found him streaking across the middle of the field.
“We did something we weren’t able to do the first three games: we came out and scored a lot of points. The defense played well. We just always complement each other. (The touchdown) felt good because I saw it open up early, right after the catch.”
After the teams exchanged three-and-outs on their first possessions of the game, Detroit answered with a drive that saw Montgomery punch it in for a one-yard touchdown. To close the first quarter, second-year linebacker Jack Campbell forced a DK Metcalf fumble which Carlton Davis returned inside the redzone. The Lions opened the second quarter with a short run by Gibbs to go ahead 14-0.
Seattle got on the board in the second quarter after a one-yard run by Michigan State alum Kenneth Walker III. The touchdown was set up by a 29-yard pitch and catch from Geno Smith to Metcalf.
The Lions would go up 21-7 to end the first half, this time on another short run by Montgomery.
Seattle, who received the ball to open the second half, began trading blows with the Lions, as the teams scored touchdowns on five combined drives, including a pass from Amon-Ra St. Brown to Goff, and a subsequent Goff touchdown pass to St. Brown.
Goff said he thinks he had two firsts in this game: His first time ever catching a touchdown pass, and his first time ever having a game with no incompletions – even dating back to his little league days in both occurrences.
“Never. I don’t think I ever did it. I knew I did it in the first half last week, and in the middle of the third quarter tonight I couldn’t think of one. But then I threw one out of bounds and it was offensive pass interference, so I was like ‘Does that count?’” Goff said. “But yeah. It was a good day.”
Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell said the team still has some things to work on, but he’s excited about heading into the bye week on a high note, especially with the offense getting back clicking.
“We’re 3-1 with this bye (week coming up). We’ll rest up. We’ll get fresh again. Then we’ll make a big push,” Campbell said.
Interesting game notes:
- With Goff and St. Brown throwing touchdowns to each other, this was the first instance in the NFL since 2016 where a quarterback and a wide receiver threw touchdown passes to each other in the same game, when Jacksonville Jaguars QB/WR duo Blake Bortles and Marquise Lee did it in a win over the Tennessee Titans.
- Despite completing all 18 of his passes, in order to set the completion percentage record for a game, a passer must have at least 20 passing attempts. And if that wasn’t enough, Goff didn’t finish the game with a perfect passer rating. His rating was 2.5 points shy of the “perfect game” score of 158.3.
- Jameson Williams moved up to 11th on the list of most receiving yards this season, finishing the game with two catches for 80 yards.
- Although Adrian Hutchinson didn’t have a sack, he finished the game with multiple pressures and faced double teams all night. He still leads the league in sacks.
- The Lions *almost* had as many points as they did offensive snaps. They scored 42 points on 47 combined runs and passes.
- After four games, St. Brown is now tied for third in the NFL in receptions with 27 catches on the season.
- Goff is fourth in the NFL in passing yards, finishing the game with 292 yards and bringing his season total to 1,015 yards through four games.
- The Lions improve to 3-1 on the season heading into their bye week.
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